Jet Air Q4 net loss widens, weak Rupee remains a concern

Moneycontrol Bureau

Jet Airways' March quarter loss widened to Rs 298 crore from Rs 124 last year, as a weak rupee further pushed up the fuel bill, and neutralized the 24% growth in revenues

While aviation fuel cost surged 26% to Rs 307.7 crore, YoY, the Rupee also depreciated over 14% to Rs 50.8 against the dollar. The company incurs 60% of its expenses in dollar denomination.

The company said its revenues grew 24% to Rs 40,92.7 crore due to improved seat factors of 79%.

Going ahead, a weak rupee and expensive fuel cost remain a cause of concern. This coupled with sluggish economy could impact traffic growth to some extend in the short to medium term as the discretionary spending on travel could get affected.

However, the airline says it is fine tuning its business strategies to control costs. "We have taken various initiatives to improve our operating efficiency and revenue earning potential. Other initiatives such as enhancing ancillary revenues, discontinuing loss making routes, sale of aircraft, restructuring commissions being paid to the agents are few to be named. We believe that these initiatives will help us in medium to long term," says the airline's CEO Nikos Kardassis.

Before the result announcement, the company stock closed the day at Rs 321.20, down 0.23%.